I Do, Make, Read, Watch, Eat…

One thing that I’ve gotten into lately is drawing and sketching. I have found it very relaxing and also easy to do while you are watching something else. I do not usually have my own ideas. Most of my ideas come from photos I find on the internet and then use for reference. I just thought I’d share a couple that I have really been happy with. I never really knew before that I liked drawing, but now I have found that I really do enjoy it, and it relaxes me.Merida, from Brave

A minimalist Princess Bride poster

This one has been my favorite:Beauty and the Beast

I hope you enjoyed this look into what I’ve been doing lately. Have you tried something new lately and been pleasantly surprised?

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For the past well, long time, I have been working on a project for my mom. My mom loves to take pictures and save the prints, but since I was 5 the prints have just been in boxes. The only album of our pictures goes until I was 5, everything else is in boxes. So one day I had this bright idea and volunteered to take all those pictures, organize them, and put them in albums.What was I thinking?! Little did I know how much of a massive undertaking this would be. I wish I had taken a picture of the pile of boxes at the beginning of this project. There were 5 or 6 boxes full of walmart prints, school pictures, Christmas cards, every kind of picture you can imagine! And in no order!

I also did not realize how much of a workout this would be on my brain and my memories. Thinking, “okay…what year did I have that haircut…” And “Adam, help me count how many candles are on this cake so I know which birthday it is.” Sheesh. Not only did I have to deal with all of the printed pictures, but the 20+ photo CD’s full of pictures, and then all the pictures from the computer that didn’t get printed and didn’t get put on a picture CD.

Why did I sign up for this?
All that to be said, that I am almost done. This week, almost 400 photos are going to be delivered by Walmart.com to my apartment, yes that is how many from the CDs and computer needed to be printed, and then, once those are organized and put into the album I will be finished!

And on that day I will be so thankful to be finished. And mother, if you’re reading this, please never let it get that bad again. I’ll teach you to use Shutterfly. You can just upload your photos, they will even auto put them in the pages, you just have to order it and then it comes to your house. So easy! Because I would really like to never volunteer for this again 🙂

I will admit it has been a little fun to look through all the photos and family memories, but it would be nicer to do that without all the extra work and brain crunching. So be thinking of me in the next couple days as I scramble to finish these scrapbooks and get them out of my apartment!

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When my friend Lauren was moving and we were helping them pack, Adam and I ended up taking quite a few things home. One of the things that I got was this awesome frame.I had a couple ideas for what to do with it, but could not find any helpful tutorials on Pinterest or through a Google search, so I used my own ideas and created, what I think, is something awesome! And now there’s a tutorial for you to use.
These are all the supplies I used in addition to the frame.2 yards of fabric, a hammer, some nails, a stapler, wire cutters, wire, and clothes pins. I think of everything I had to buy I spent $10.
The first thing I did was put three nails on each side of the frame (on the back of the frame) at equal distances.Then, I wrapped the wire around the nail, stretched it across, and wrapped it around the other nail, so it looked something like this.It’s kinda hard to see the wires here, but if you look closely you should see them. Then, just to be safe and to ensure that the wire didn’t slide off the nail, I hot glued over the top of the nail so there would be no sliding.

The next thing I did was staple the fabric to the back of the frame.Then, again to be safe, I hot glued on top of the staples to make sure the fabric would not fray around the staples.So, this is what it looked like after all that:I wanted this to be like a clothesline for pictures. So you can hang a bunch of little pictures using clothespins on each wire, or, I decided to put one big picture up for the time being. Here is the finished product.Let me know if you have any questions or if any of the instructions are unclear. Good luck with your own DIY 🙂

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I did not get a chance to blog yesterday because I was in the car for 12 hours driving back from Illinois. And boy was I worn out!

Today, I have an itch to craft! I have been scouring my pinterest boards for the past month looking for a fun craft to do. I have not had much luck. How can it be so hard to find a craft? Well let me tell you.

1-I have next to no wall space left in our apartment. Just about every space is filled with a photo or a canvas or something.
2-I cannot make any more blankets, hats, or scarves, Adam and I both have more than we can use.
3-I do not have a sewing machine, but I do now have a hot glue gun after Christmas
4-It needs to be relatively inexpensive. I’m not made of money.

After doing some more looking I found a couple ideas that interest me, but some seem expensive, and some just seem like I would be adding clutter to my house. So I would love to hear your ideas. Have you found a great craft that you’d like to share? Because I want to see it!

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I have to admit, I’ve had trouble coming up with something to write about recently (and I’ve been too busy to really think about it), so I am referencing the “I’m Stuck” list tonight. Here’s a fun one for you.

10 Reasons I Couldn’t Live Without Popcorn

(mmm, doesn’t that just make you hungry!)

1. I eat it almost every night for a snack
2. I feel totally safe eating it. Who would put nuts in popcorn?
3. It’s salty
4. But it can be sweet
5. It can taste like just about anything you put on it (my favorites include: cinnamon sugar, cheese, and birthday cake)
6. It’s healthy? Okay, healthier than cookies
7. It’s crunchy
8. It’s my favorite snack
9. It’s quick to make, so it satisfies my hunger sooner
10. I do not know what else would taste so good with movies

In summation. I could not live without popcorn because it is the perfect and my most favorite snack.
I could use some right now…

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here’s how it started:1 vinyl tablecloth, paintbrush, scissors, masking tape, chalboard paint. These things are going to be an awesome table runner!
first thing I did was tape out my table runner, which you can see in the above picture.
Next, I started painting on the tablecloth with the chalkboard paint.I painted over the masking tape and did three coats. Once it was dry, I cut around the edge of the masking tape.And then I peeled off the tape.A little of the paint got under the tape, but because of the big pattern it’s not very noticeableThen, you are supposed to condition the paint by rubbing a piece of chalk over it and then erasing it. Here is the completed table runner. I am so thrilled with how it turned out!Yay!

My next great idea: painting the top of my coffee table with chalkboard paint so we can keep score on the table when playing games! Wouldn’t that be awesome!

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Yesterday I woke up with a crazy migraine. I have been getting them pretty frequently, which is pretty obnoxious, but yesterday’s was worse than usual. I went in to work, hoping that all the medicine I took would kick in, but the combination of the noise, light, and staring at the computer was too much for me and I only made it 30 minutes before getting sick and going home. At home I slept until 1 and then I had a recheck appointment on my shoulder. Luckily I am feeling a lot better today. Since I was sick yesterday I did not get a chance to give you my Thursday-Morning Tell-About Update, or my April Goals Update, so I’m going to give them to you now.

What I Would Have told you on the Thursday-Morning Tell-About

My Movie Queue: The Guardian, Shattered Glass, Thelma and Louise, Double Indemnity
Pages left to read in my current book: Lots in Les Mis and over 300 in Oprah
I have made: a cute card for a bridal shower
I have worked on: cleaning the house and keeping it clean and balancing our bank account
Food made: hamburgers, breakfast casserole, meatloaf
Goals checked off: none
Games played: Sudoku
Favorite Pinterest pin:

Total Blog views since last Thursday: 172
Number of snow days: 0
Movies Watched: 4: Life of Pi, Playing for Keeps, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln
Books read: 6: Contagious, The Tiny Books of Tiny Stories Vol 1 and 2, Radical, A Little Bit Wicked, Ice Princess
This week I love: that tomorrow I’m going to see Relient K in concert!
This week I hate: migraines

And now my April Goals Update

Daily
1. Be contentI have been doing a lot better at this one. I really have been content.2. Be a good, supportive, encouraging, loving wife to AdamI feel like I have been doing well at this. Adam, what do you think?
3. Do one thing to clean the houseUsually I only do one very small thing a day, I really want to do more
4. Keep a food and fitness diary to help me remember to be more healthyNow that I can do more with my shoulder I am hoping to get better at this one. And I have been trying to be healthier.

Weekly
5. Call my motherI have still been doing well at this

Monthly
6. Write a thank you note to someone who I am grateful forSomehow this one got away from me this month, so I’ll try to do double for May7. Have intentional date nights with Adam. Start with at least once a month.We saw the movie 42 and had Main Street Pizza
8. Find a craft or something creative to doMy card for Becky’s shower
9. Have someone over for dinnerMy sister came over one night for dinner.10. Do something with my sisterWe went to Into the Fire for her birthday

Once11. Finish Financial PeaceFinished in March12. Take a vacation—or have a weekend getawayNo plans yet, but talks are in the works13. Finish my Best Picture movie listI only have two left!14. Finish Reading Anna KareninaFinished in March15. Plant flowers in the flower beds outside my apartmentI better get on this one16. Read through the whole Bible againWorking on it17. Play Eclipse with AdamFinished in March18. Finish watching Prison BreakHopefully this will happen19. Learn how to knitLearned in March
20. Go to a sporting event or a concert where you have to buy ticketsTomorrow night I’ll be able to check this one off!21. Take a cooking classI am no closer to marking this one off my list, sadly22. Go one weekend “unplugged”Now that it’s getting nice I am hoping this will happen soon23. Read a biography of someone that I don’t like to learn more about themCurrently working on this one. I’m reading Oprah’s biography. I’ve never liked her, I’ve never know why though.

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These are some photos from my sister’s birthday outing to Into the Fire, which is a paint your own pottery place. We will pick up our finished masterpieces this coming Saturday. I can’t wait to see how they turned out!

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My Movie Queue: The Guardian, Shattered Glass, Thelma and Louise, Double Indemnity
Pages left to read in my current book: Lots in Les Mis and 150 in Contagious
I have made: nothing crafty
I have worked on: cleaning the house
Food made: homemade mac and cheese, homemade biscuits and gravy, monkey bread
Goals checked off: none this week.
Games played: Sudoku
Favorite Pinterest pin:

Total Blog views since last Thursday: 54 (sheesh, was I boring this week?)
Number of snow days: 0
Movies Watched: 4: 42, Django Unchained, Cold Mountain, Just Go With It
Books read: 4: Silver Linings Playbook, Decisive, 31 Days of Praise, Enders Game
This week I love: having a clean house
This week I hate: not sleeping well